


Pull Me Back

by vangogh_hoe



Category: The Outsiders (1983), The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Angst, Buck's Bar, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dallas isn't as cold as he seems, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Johnny Cade is Sad, Johnny's parents can go fuck themselves, M/M, Maybe not really Canon at all, Mentioned Abuse, Pre-Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:20:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23163142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vangogh_hoe/pseuds/vangogh_hoe
Summary: "Jesus, kid! What in the Hell do you think you're doing out in the middle of the goddamned street, huh?"or in which Johnny wants Dallas to leave him alone and let him die but Dallas isn't going to let that happen.
Relationships: Johnny Cade/Dallas Winston
Comments: 4
Kudos: 127





	Pull Me Back

Dallas wakes up to roll onto his side but is suddenly met with confusion when he finds the spot next to him empty and cold. JOhnny had come to him that night after his dad had hit him. From the looks of it, it had been a pretty bad beating this time, too. So, of course, Dallas let the kid crash at his place for the night. But now his clock read 2:00 and Johnny was nowhere to be seen. 

Dally' thought he had gone to sleep in the lot, thinking he was burdening Dallas with his company. 

_Jesus, this kid's fucking crazy_ , he thought as he threw on his leather jacket and go retrieve Johnny from the cold lot. 

He only made it a few steps from Buck's front door, when his heart dropped straight to the ground beneath him. 

Laying out in the middle of the street in a dark spot between two lamp posts was a motionless Johnny Cade. 

If it were anyone else. they would've just thought it was a piece of trash or something that had blown away and landed there, but Dallas knew better. Dallas knows Johnny. 

"Johnny!" he yelled as he hurried to the younger boy's side. He was relieved to see his chest rise and fall as he got closer allowing Dallas to relax a little bit- but not much. 

"Jesus, kid! What in the Hell do you think you're doing out in the middle of the goddamned street, huh?" He couldn't control the bite in his words. 

"Just leave me be, Dal..." Dallas was taken aback by just how broken and tired Johnny's voice sounded. "Just leave me here to die." 

The blood rushed from Dallas' face. "What are you talking about 'leave me here to die'? Common don't say shit like that." His voice grew angrier and angrier as he talked, but he was too far gone to stop himself. "Now get your ass up, we're going back inside," he growled. 

"No!" Johnny screamed into the quiet night, opening his eyes for the first time but refusing to look anywhere but the sky above him. The moon was almost full, making the tears in his eyes glisten as the fell down his cheek. 

Dally noted that he had never seen Johnny cry before. Johnny Cade doesn't cry. He just doesn't. 

"Don't you get it, Dal? I got no one! The only attention I get at home is when my dad's beating me bloody. And my mom- my mom hates me! My own mom! She can't even bear to look at me!" Johnny's voice broke. "What's even the point anymore?" he mumbled. 

"Fine then. If you really think that, then fine. Lay out here all night if that's what you want," Dallas growled and began walking back towards Buck's. 

But then he stopped. 

"Goddamnit," he said under his breath as he stalked back to Johnny, anger rising to dangerous levels. 

"You're really off it, kid. You know that? For you to sit there and say to my face that nobody cares about you... that you don't got anybody, why I oughtta just- You've got the whole gang, Johnnycake! They care about you! They love you like their own brother! And if you can't see that, then you're really out to lunch, you hear? And what do you think would happen to all them if this little plan of yours plays out, huh? What, you think they'll all just move on? Get over it? Well, have I got some news for you, kid because it ain't happenin'. So you're either going to get up on your own, or I'm dragging you in by the hair. Either way, you're getting out of the fucking road! So what's it going to be?"

When Johnny made no move to get up, Dallas went over to him, roughly pulled him to his feet by the hem of his shirt, and threw the younger boy over his shoulder. 

"Put me down!" Johnny yelled as he began kicking and punching, but his efforts proved fruitless. 

"Now, you better keep your voice down," Dallas said as they made their way through the bar, "or you'll wake Buck. And you know as much as I that we don't want that, do we?"

Johnny reluctantly stopped talking but still continued trying to wiggle from Dally's strong grip. Once in Dallas' room, he threw Johnny on the bed and locked the door behind them. 

"Sit down and stay there," he growled as soon as Johnny started to stand up.

Eyes wide, he did as he was told. 

Dallas yanked his dresser drawer open and dug around for a pack of smokes. He pulled it out and slammed the drawer shut, making Johnny flinch. 

He lit up, took a good drag and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed tight as he blew the smoke out through his nostrils. He moved towards the boy, and Johnny honest-to-God thought Dallas was going to sock him one right in the jaw. Instead, Dallas sat down heavily next to him, mattress groaning under his weight. He passed the cigarette to Johnny, who took it with shaking hands. 

"Seriously, kid. What's gotten into you?" he asked, trying hard to keep the anger from his voice so he wouldn't scare Johnny away. His eyes are as cold and icy as ever, though- that will never change. Johnny still refused to look at them. 

"I- I couldn't take it anymore. Any of it." His voice so small, Dally had to lean in a little to hear him. "I'm so tired, Dal," he said, pleadingly. 

"I know, kid," he says taking the cigarette back. "But you can't go out doing stuff like that. I mean it. And I meant it earlier when I said the gang couldnt get on without you. You're needed. Here. With us."

"With you?" his voice barely a whisper. 

"Well, yeah, sure. I'm apart of the gang, arent I?" 

"You love me like a brother?"

"Why are you asking stupid questions, huh? Com'on, cut it out, would ya?"

"I was just wondering what I mean to you 's all..." 

"What you mean- Jesus, kid, you're acting like a damn broad," he said, rubbing the heel of his palm across his brow. From the corner of his eye, he could see Johnny's shoulders slump as he turned his face away. 

Dallas sighed, dropped the half-smoked Kool of the ground and snuffed it out with his boot. He then gently grabbed the other by the shoulder, forcing him to actually look him in the eye for the first time that night. 

"Seriously, Johnnycake. What's all this about?" 

"You'd hate me if I told you..."

"I hate a lot of things, Johnnycake, but you'll never be one of them. Cross my heart." 

"Trust me, you would."

"Oh yeah? Try me, then." 

Without warning, Johnny surged forward, crashing their lips together. 

"What the fuck!" Dallas yelled, shoving Johnny back against the headboard so hard it knocked the air from his lungs. 

Johnny scrambled off the bed and quickly made for the door, muttering, "I- I'm sorry. I'll go-" But he stopped in his tracks when he felt a tug at his wrist.

He turned around and there was Dallas. He pulled Johnny closer, crashing their lips together, one hand on Johnny's jaw, angling him up into the kiss, while the other wrapped around his back pulling him impossibly close. 

But then it was over and Dallas was stepping back, and staring at the floor. Johnny didn't say anything- couldn't, really. 

"Are you still going to stay the night?" Dallas' voice broke through the tense air. 

"Yeah," he mumbled, but was quick to add, "if that's okay?"

Dallas replied with a nod, still looking at the floor. 

Johnny slowly crawled into bed and tucked himself under the blankets and faced the wall. He was scared that Dally was going to hate him for what he did, but was also confused why he had kissed him back. Maybe it was out of pity, he told himself. Or maybe Dallas felt obligated; that if he didn't return the kiss, Johnny would go out and off himself and he didn't want to have that on his conscience. Either way, he couldn't shake the nervousness that crept up his spine

He could hear Dallas kicking his boots off and the sound of his jacket pooling on the ground. Then the lights flicked off and Dallas's footsteps came closer and closer to the bed and Johnny tensed up. He felt the dip of the mattress behind him and the tussle of blankets, and the warmth the radiated off the blond. And then he felt the strangest thing happen- he felt Dallas turn onto his side and wrap a heavy arm around him. His whole body tensed up but was soon relaxing into the other's hold when a kiss ghosted across his bare shoulder. 

And for the first time in his life, Johnny Cade felt safe. Johnny Cade felt was it was like to have a home, to be loved. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and don't forget to drop a kudos and leave some comments; I love hearing from you guys!


End file.
